A Stroke of Brilliance

Arcane Hearts, Book 2

De: Nazri Noor

Narrado por: Zachary Johnson

The fragrance of chaos. The flavor of terror. The color of madness.

Jackson Pryde and Xander Wright are loving a life of hunting and harvesting rare reagents wherever the Black Market travels. But a routine trip to visit Japanese tree spirits turns up something sinister: Two crystal shards, embedded in the bodies of wild animals. They’re familiar, glimmering, violet...like splinters of amethyst.

But that’s not all. Two rival guilds are in strife, Jack and Xander caught in a crossfire of spells and slander. SEER and its hundred eyes are still watching their every move. And then there’s the matter of meeting Xander’s parents, perhaps Jackson’s deadliest challenge to date.

The Chrysanthemyst’s return is the least of their problems.

A Stroke of Brilliance is a M/M urban fantasy romance with a HFN ending. Join a fast-talking artificer and a snarky sorcerer, childhood friends who become bitter enemies, then lovers, as they explore a world filled with strange flora, mythical fauna, and magical murders. If you like your urban fantasy with humor, horror, and a whole lot of heart, you’ve come to the right place. Experience A Stroke of Brilliance today.

©2021 Nazri Noor (P)2022 Nazri Noor

Is fantastic gay fantasy

Absolutely in love with this author and finding that he wrote a novel on fantasy magic with a gay spin was absolutely amazing totally love it

The story of Jackson and Xander...the feels..

This one was so well written. I can say that based on description and dialogue, I know how much Jackson cares and loves his hot and spicy mage. The internal dialogue from Jackson regarding Xander is just so wholesome (bit naughty) but so loving and appreciative. I enjoyed Zacks narration and how he breathes life into these characters. Nazri Noor put actually love into the series, and it shows. If coming across this review, start on book one. Enjoy!!!

Great continuation of the series!

I'm so enjoying this series 😍
Jackson and Alexander Wright (I love hearing his full name) are still growing with their relationship and still falling into adventures. They're still tracking the source of the chrysanthemist crystals and dealing with guild members. As added facet, we get to meet Alexander Wright's parents (I don't like them). As with the first book, there's a great storyline, humour, heat. Looking forward to the next book.
Zachary Johnson - I don't know how much more I can say about how good he is and how brilliant he is for this series. Loved his performance!!!

Definitely Brilliant

A Stroke of Brilliance is the second book in the Arcane Hearts series, a wonderful paranormal series with incredible worldbuilding. I highly suggest reading the first book in the series first – this series has an overarching plot and follows the same characters.

Oh. My. Gosh. I was not expecting where the plot went and I was so happy I am continuing this wild ride with Jackson and Xander. The plot is thickening – this mystery with the crystals and flowers is really intriguing. I enjoyed learning more about the guilds and their politics. Plus, all the side characters are just fantastic – rich and fascinating personalities.

The audiobook was narrated by Zachary Johnson who did a fantastic job. I love how versatile his voice is and he did a great job with performing the book. The audiobook production was well done.

More Fascinating Greatness! Outstanding Listen🎧

Nazri Noor pens another brilliantly fascinating novel set in his “Arcane Hearts” world, it is the second book of the series and I highly recommend starting with the first book “A Touch of Fever”, not only is it an amazing story but it lays the foundation for the series and introduces you to key characters, the two leads, Jackson Pryde and Xander Wright, and two of my favorite characters. Jackson and Xander make a great team hunting & harvesting rare reagents and once again they stumble on something evil and all is not right in the magical world. They are determined to get to the root of the evil crystals, but there are some road bumps along the way. This is a well-written and cleverly plotted story, Nazri Noor does an amazing job balancing several genres in his novel and aces them all. The dialogue is brilliant and there is plenty of drama, humor, mystery, thrilling and suspenseful moments, heartfelt and emotional ones and a sweet romance. The phenomenal world building and character development continues, I have to give a shout out to Lore and Xander, won’t spoil it, but loved what is happening with Lore, also loved seeing Xander stand up for himself with the Wrights. Nazri Noor, thank you for another fabulous, action packed story, it is great to visit and spend time in this fascinating and imaginative world you created.

🎧📚🎧 And for the wonderful narration, Zachary Johnson continues to do an outstanding job bringing these characters and their stories to life. He has a complete understanding of the characters he portrays, gives each their own unique voice and personality, making it easy to follow along and tell who is who. I love how he takes each role and makes it his own, sounding believable and just as I picture the characters to sound. He sets the perfect tone for the story, handles the witty dialogue with ease and lands the snarky humor effortlessly, never missing a beat. Zachary Johnson is versatile voice artist and an entertaining storyteller. Thank you for another amazing listen.

Great Second Entry

Aaaah. I am in love with everything and everyone! A gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous world. I'm sure like many I'm drawn to the world of gods and magic and magic people. And all delivered with an amazing narrator who does accents that are beyond acceptable. Aaaaah!

Much Improved! :D

I will admit to not being thrilled by the first book. I felt the relationship building was not great and the pacing was off. I was hesitant to keep reading but I am so glad I did. The second book was fantastic! It was funny and well paced. The characters were glorious and multi-faceted! The romance now seems appropriately spicy and reasonably devoted. The mystery of the destructive purple continues. I can't wait to read the rest of the series.

purple craze

so the plot thickens in this second installment and Jackson gets to smash things with his gauntlet as well as getting in deeper with his man. Zachary Johnson does an excellent job yet again of bringing the characters to life. Highly recommended for all lovers of fantasy and magic. Best enjoyed after reading book 1.